Silver Marshes: The Joining
by Marshpelt
Summary: A new apprentice, Marshpaw, and her best friend, Silverpaw, struggle to unravel the mysteries of a strange prophecy, disturbing dreams, and cross-clan loyalties. Marshpaw is dragged ever further into a world of dark secrets that should have stayed hidden.
1. Prologue

**Ok guys, please bear with me because I know I'm not all that good of an author, but I'm gonna try with a new story. Please review and tell me if my story sucks or not. Here goes. Wish me luck.**

**Prologue**

A full moon shone over a deserted hollow. A small stream trickled quietly into a glassy pool, barely rippling the dark surface. The scent of late greenleaf hung heavily in the air. The ferns at the top of the hollow rustled quietly in a warm, silent breeze. Trees bent over the star-filled water.

Suddenly, the bracken rustled and, one by one, dark shapes of cats slipped silently out of the shadows from the sides of the hollow and down to the pool. They settled down, by the edge of the pool and waited silently. Then one cat, a slim, young tortoiseshell, stepped to the edge of the water and spoke, "Cats of Starclan, you have all seen what is to come, the doom of this forest that we call home. Darkness, air, water, and sky will come together and shake the forest to its roots. You all have seen this and know what must be done. However, I have found another prophecy that foretells two different troubles. Two cats will come together and protect the forest from death and disaster. Have any of you seen this?"

"I have, Spottedleaf," answered a blue-gray she-cat, in a low voice.

"As have I, Bluestar. Many of the medicine cats as well," rumbled a black tom with a twisted paw, "Have any from Shadowclan or Riverclan seen this?"

The signs are fainter for us than you because it affects Thunderclan and Windclan the most, Deadfoot," replied a bracken-colored tom, "But it is clear that, however faintly, it will affect the rest of us as well."

Spottedleaf nodded solemnly and lowered her head, touching the water with her nose. All eyes were fixed on the surface of the pool, which rippled silently. Then the reflection of stars faded to a red gleam that filled the air with the stink of blood. The water churned and seemed to writhe as if in pain. Shadows of fleeing cats shone out. Two cat-shadows stood in the center, filled with starlight, the only comfort in the sea of blood. Slowly the nightmarish scene faded and was replaced by the dappled light of stars once more. Spottedleaf lifted her head again and mewed, "You have seen this omen and now hear this," She paused and when she spoke again her voice had become low and rasping, "Marsh of the winds and silver thunder shall join together and shield the forest against death and disaster."

Her voice became a soft mew again, and she continued, "This is the prophecy. The two cats cannot stop the doom but perhaps they are the only ones that can stop the tide of blood that will be raised around the clans, threatening to consume them and keep them, especially Thunderclan, from completing the journey, or even beginning it."

"You must take the prophecy to Thunderclan. They need to know about it. We must watch over the two that will fulfill the prophecy. They must be kept safe," murmured the blue-gray cat.

"All of Starclan will watch them, Bluestar" called a snowy queen from the back of the crowd.

"Indeed," murmured Spottedleaf. She nodded to the group of assembled cats then leapt away through the trees.

Slowly, one by one, the cats got to their paws and separated, padding away into the trees. Finally, the only one that remained was Bluestar. She bowed her noble head and reached down, touching the water with one paw. For a moment, the outlines of two young cats, their fur filled with stars, appeared again on the water's surface. Then she padded away through the bracken, the reflections faded and the clearing was still once more.


	2. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! Wow I got a review! So cool!**

**EdgeStrife: Yeah, this is pretty much an alternate world. Sort of a "parallel universe" thing. Thanks for the first review!**

**For all of you who didn't figure it out already, this story starts around the time the second series starts.**

**So here's my next failed attempt at writing. Enjoy!**

**Chapter one**

I was padding along a dark path, scents of prey and wind surrounding me. Shadows flickered at my paws but I had to keep going to find something, something important. What it was I had no idea, but still I must press on among the tall, leafless trees. The gravity of importance was dragging me forwards, paw by paw. _Come,_ The rumbling voice that echoed in my head was not my own, _Come_.

"Marshkit you great lump!" A voice cut into my dream, awakening me with a start, as I recognized the mew of my sister, "Are you going to sleep the entire day away, like an elder? Get up!"

I grunted in surprise as she pounced on me, driving the breath out of my lungs, and blinked the sleep out of my eyes. I found my vision obscured by dark, tortoiseshell fur, "Get _off_, Dapplekit, You've squished me as flat as a mouse that's been basking on the Thunderpath!" I shoved her with my sturdy hind legs and flung her across the small cave that made the Windclan nursery.

Brightwing, my mother, popped her head inside just in time to see Dapplekit land in a heap, "Stop being so rough you two, you don't want to be all mussed up today. It's the big day!"

"Yeah! We're six moons now!" squeaked my brother, Oakkit. He turned to me, with a glimmer in his dark green eyes, "I bet I'll be a better fighter than you."

"Hey!" I mewed, resentfully, "You wish!"

I leapt on him, pummeling him with my front paws hard. He grasped me and flipped me over, one of his flying paws hitting our last sister, Hazelkit who jumped up and grabbed his tail with her teeth, battering him with her white paws. Dapplekit gave her tortoiseshell fur a shake and bounced over energetically, grabbing my black-and-brown, tabby scruff to pull me backwards so that Oakkit could get a better blow in.

"Hey! No teaming up on me!" I yowled. Twisting free, I pounced at both of them, sending scraps of moss flying. After a few minutes of scuffling, we collapsed panting, and shaking off moss.

"Now that you've all quite finished trampling the bedding, like a horde of badgers, I want to finish settling, some things with you." We all straightened, as my mother spoke to us, "As you know your father, Shadewhisker, and I want each one of you to join a different clan since you are ready to be apprenticed. Our leader…that is…Tallstar has agreed to this. We, that would be your father, Tallstar, and I, have noticed that all of you share skills that are supposed to be unique to only cats from other clans. There are… other differences between you and the others here in Windclan, also. However, I leave you to decide between yourselves, who goes where," She withdrew, leaving us to argue in hushed voices. **(AN: Yes, it seems very unlikely that this'd happen, but it gets explained latter. Bear with me, k?)**

The first to step forward was Oakkit, his black fur, splotched with dark brown, gleaming in the streaks of light that were pouring from the entrance of the den, "I want to be in Thunderclan or Shadowclan. I admire their strength, courage and loyalty." He seemed slightly ashamed as he added, "I really like how Shadowclan… they're so fiercely loyal and it just seems…right." He finished with an uncomfortable glance at us. He licked his chest fur and I could see his tail prickling. A strong scent of embarrassment made a sense of pity in my stomach fight with the desire to laugh at his apparent discomfiture.

"You'll have to work hard to get into Shadowclan!" piped Hazelkit, with an un-Hazelkit-like energy, "But if it's alright with you…I want to stay in Windclan. I love to run and feel the wind, to see the stars when I go to sleep." Her blissful gaze turned serious, "Also, I never want to meet our mother in battle. Would you?"

"Never, and I would avoid fighting you too," answered Oakkit solemnly, as Dapplekit and I nodded our agreement.

"It's hard to picture you hunting in a forest," I admitted.

Next Dapplekit spoke, "I want to be in Riverclan! Water makes me feel safe, and fishing would be so fun!" She let out a _mrow_ of amusement, "and I bet none of you would ever _dare_ get your paws wet."

"Not true! I like water too! Sorta…" I protested, cuffing her ears, then added warmly, "but I'll miss you all a lot."

I smiled, picturing each one of them in their new territories: Oakkit, strong and muscular, out at night in a patrol of dark-furred warriors. I saw him, in my mind, giving a battle cry and plunging into combat, full of power, enemies fleeing from his outstretched claws.

My thoughts turned to Halzelkit, and I pictured a thin, lithe shape streaking after a rabbit, tan fur blending into the gorse. I thought of her learning to hunt from a mentor that would help her find courage to speak up. I pictured her standing strait and tall with a patrol padding through the tall grasses and heather under a twilight sky.

I imagined Dapplekit resting on a rock, by a rushing river, eating a plump fish. I saw her thrusting strongly through a current of water and shaking her pelt dry, drops spinning off of her glossy coat. I pictured her chatting happily with sleek-furred warriors and queens, under a shinning sun.

Then I saw myself, grown and strong. First I saw myself standing tall in between trees, the sun rising behind me. I saw myself racing after prey, plummeting into battle, sharing tongues with other cats. I saw myself grown and strong, leading others, taking my own apprentice out to train. I imagined myself climbing, and running, hunting, and fighting. The stream of images came faster and faster, now including pictures and scenes of me leading entire patrols, becoming deputy, leader. Swifter and stronger the visions crowded into my mind, shoving aside the faces of my siblings, and a deep voice murmured in my ear, "Yes, yes. You will be strong."

_Yes_, I thought, agreeing hazily, _if I go there I will be strong._

"Marshkit! Marshkit, you haven't made your choice yet." Hazelkit's voice seemed to come from a long distance away. Her puzzled face seemed to swim into my vision, clearing the images away, "Marshkit, are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I was just thinking," Dragging myself back to reality I told them, "And I suppose I'd like Thunderclan…I was actually debating between Shadowclan and Thunderclan. But I…I like the forest…I mean…I like water and wind and running and all those other things too, but I guess that I like this more… only a little bit more. A forest makes me feel safe. And… well… I like it more…do you know what I mean?" I felt my pelt prickle at my awkwardness but I couldn't shake the feeling that the place that I'd seen myself was in Thunderclan territory.

They each nodded and Oakkit added, "Of course, mousebrain! We all feel that way! I guess I'll take Shadowclan, then and- Hey!" His amber eyes lit up, and his voice dropped to an exited purr "I have an idea! How about if we meet every, I don't know, quarter moon at Fourtrees - at midnight - and share what we've learned?"

"Like a private gathering?" Dapplekit caught on immediately, her own green eyes now glowing as well.

"Yeah!" I agreed enthusiastically, "Once every moon!" _What a great idea! Oakkit is so smart._

"That's mousebrained!" exclaimed Hazelkit, "What would our leaders say?"

"They wouldn't know, silly," grinned Oakkit, "It'll be a complete secret."

"But…but…I guess…yeah, maybe. All right, I'll come the first time." She finally agreed, with her usual cautious behavior.

"Agreed?" I asked, and they coursed agreement back to me, "Great I guess we'd better tell Brightwing about our clan choices and be off, we have a long way to go."

Dapplekit was the first one out of the nursery and I could feel all the excitement and nervousness gushing out of her in a wave of crackling emotion. I followed her, whiskers twitching in amusement. I got out just in time to hear her finish, "…and Hazelkit's going to stay here!"

Abruptly, as they both turned to look at me, I was struck by how similar they were, with tortoiseshell fur, green eyes, and long tails. Only the expressions of the two cats, Dapplepaw's excitement and Brightwing's anxious worry, differed between them. I would never see this again except maybe at gatherings.

Choked with emotion I touched noses with each of my family, then from the shadows at the edge of the camp I heard a voice mew, "So, it's the big day!" and my father stepped forward, "Rouges need company sometimes, so since it's your first day as apprentices and the day that you move out I thought I'd come." His shinning black fur gleamed as he stepped forward, "Remember that you will need to impress the warriors of the clan that you're moving to. I love you all, and good luck."

"Oh, but they haven't eaten yet, Shadewhisker! They can't leave quite yet!" Bightwing's barely contained worry burst out and she turned towards us, "You can't go and leave now! Not yet, at least. You don't know the way. You might get lost or not be accepted or find a … badger or a snake or a fox. If you aren't accepted then you have to come back here; you can't stay in unfamiliar territory at night. Perhaps we should wait another day. Or a moon. Just become an apprentice right here and wait until you know the territory. Then you can go."

"No! I've waited six moons for this and I can't wait another day!" wailed Dapplekit, but with a glimmer of amusement in her eyes, "No way am I going to wait another moon, to join our new clans!"

Brightwing sighed as the rest of us nodded our heads in energetic agreement, and then replied weakly, "Very well, you can go now, I suppose. Just have some fresh-kill first. And don't talk too much in your new clan. Listen to everything that your mentor tells you. Feed the clan first. Always be polite. Do whatever anyone tells you to if it's sensible. Use your head. Don't ever forget to…"

"We know!" we chorused._ Great Starclan!_ I thought, _She's been saying for the last month, 'You can do it! You can't do it yet! You can do it!' Sheesh_. _But, then again,_ I wondered, _IS this really what Starclan wants? Is this our true path?_

Shadewhisker waved his tail at us before he turned and padded out of camp. Over his shoulder, he called, "Starclan light your path."

She continued a constant stream of advice, suggestions, and ideas all the time that we were eating our fresh-kill. Finally, she touched us each gently with her tail, "Good luck and may Starclan go with you." Dapplekit, Oakkit, and I paused for just a moment longer then turned away and padded forward, towards our new territory. Hazelkit called a goodbye to us and as we left I heard Brightwing call, "And for Starclan's don't do anything stupid, or smart-mouthed, and groom yourself before you talk to the leader of your new clan! Make a good first impression! Don't eat crowfood and be safe!"

We waited until we were a safe distance from the camp, and then broke into squeals of laughter. I tried imitating our mother's worried tone, "Don't eat crowfood! Don't get in fights! Be safe!" I was surprised at how good the imitation actually was.

Oakkit doubled over with a mrow of laughter. "She was so busy giving advice that she never said a proper goodbye to us!" He snorted.

"It _was_ funny how she was so worried after telling us for a whole moon that she was sure that we'd be just fine. Like, as if we would actually eat crowfood or talk back to our leaders!" intoned Dapplekit, amused.

I smirked, "I dunno, Dapplekit. You might talk back to everyone and get thrown out. And… doesn't Shadowclan eat crowfood?"

We all began to laugh again and I dodged a swipe from Oakkit, leaping straight backwards into Dapplekit.

After we had finally managed to stop laughing and scuffling we picked ourselves up and continued along, across Windclan territory. Every once and a while we would burst out laughing, and quoting her "advice" that even a two-day-old kit would know.

For a long time we walked across unbroken, grassy moorland together, chatting about how to impress warriors and arguing over what the best fighting moves we'd ever seen were. It was a little after sunhigh when we reached Fourtrees and parted ways. After and affectionate goodbye, Oakkit headed left, Dapplekit turned right, crossing the river, and I stayed straight ahead, following the river. I raised my head and sniffed once, I'd never smelled this scent before, but I was sure: I'd just reached Thunderclan territory.

**Ok, that was a pretty long chapter. Who am I kidding? You probably gave up on it cuz it was so long. 2,189 words. I'm not so sure if it was up to standards, but I'm hoping for the best. I'll update again as soon as I can. Again thanks to EdgeStrife for your support. Also thanks to Silverstorm (not on this site) for helping me get the idea for this story like two years ago.**

**Review please: Was it good? Did it suck? I don't really care if you flame me, but I'd rather that you don't.**

**Cya!**


	3. Chapter 2

**Hi: I know it's been a while, but I was gone for two weeks. Then I had writer's block, then I had to revise. Thanks for reviewing people! You quadrupled my reviews! Not that that's saying much because I only had one review to begin with… Anyway!**

**Laughing Rain: Yeah, filler writing is pretty hard. That's the hardest part about my writing, except that I constantly have writer's block… Thanks for liking my story!**

**Rainsky of Thunderclan: Wow, thanks for the positive review Rainsky! Sorry for the late post, but I hope you like it!**

**TwindaughterofArtemis: Thanks for reviewing. I'm glad you people liked it. I totally thought I was going to get either no reviews or a million flames.**

**So here we go. Hope you like it!**

**Chapter 2**

After a while, I passed a tall tree then, soon after that, I found a stream blocking my path. I turned and walked along it heading deeper into the trees. Now that I was among the trees, I couldn't turn back, but I was beginning to wonder how to find a patrol or cat and what I would say. My paws dragged along the ground as the sun trailed slowly through the sky. _I should sit down… So tired_ I thought. I was just about to stop when suddenly I heard a loud rustle, and yowl of "Eat mousedung, rabbit-chaser!"

All fatigue forgotten, I leapt up as high as I could and under me landed a young cat that couldn't be much older than me. Her white-and-creamy fur rippled as she landed, startled beneath me. I landed clumsily besides her, ducking a swiping paw, and leapt onto her shoulders, overbalancing her. She sank her teeth into my tail, and struggled to throw me off. I winced as I felt her sharp teeth sinking through my fur. I wrenched it away from her, rolling over and springing up I hissed at her angrily. "Hey! What's the big idea!?"

"Get lost, mousedung!" she spat angrily, "Get out of our territory, or I'll claw your fur off!" then she paused, confusion radiating off her and added, "Uh, why is a _kit_ like you out here? Judging by your scent, you should be in the Windclan nursery, not out here, on Thunderclan territory. You are a Windclan _kit_ aren't you?"

I eyed her critically, ignoring the scornful way that she spat out the word 'kit', "That doesn't matter. I want to join your clan. And besides you can't be a moon older than I am. When were you apprenticed?"

_No!_ _Fight, don't talk! You could tear her to shreds!_ Snarled a voice in my mind and I recognized the same voice as my dream. I shook my head to clear it.

She looked even more confused and now embarrassment was mixed in with the confusion, as well, "Uh, five sunrises ago, actually. This is my first solo hunting mission" My whiskers twitched in amusement at her confusion, and she burst out angrily, "Who are you, anyway?!"

"Marshkit, soon to be Marsh_paw…_ I hope. I'm six moons old, today." I waved my tail and relaxed my tense muscles. _Ignore the voice, _I chanted in my head, _Ignore the voice. Ignore the voice._

Slowly she let her fur lay flat, all signs of hostility gone; still sounding slightly bewildered, "Alright I'll take you to Firestar, but I'm not promising anything. I'm Silverpaw by the way"

"Thanks! I'm pleased to meet you," I mewed as she led me through the ferns. We crossed the stream over a fallen log and continued, for a minute. Suddenly, I realized that we were traveling on a path, smoothed by generations of paws.

"We're close, stay behind me," she cautioned, then went off into chatter, "You know, I don't have that many friends because I work too hard. Actually I, uh, don't have any really good friends at all… Anyway, I have a brother named Rockpaw, and he's still going over hunting moves so he's really jealous that I got to go out today. I don't have any sisters, though. My mentor is Sootfur and he's really good but also pretty tough. I like fighting and climbing and I also like to run, but I'm also good at hunting. Today, I already caught a rabbit and a mouse. I missed a crow by less than a mouselength and I _would_ have caught a starling if you hadn't come blundering through the underbrush, crunching all the leaves and twigs within a foxlength and scaring off everything within hearing distance. I'll be surprised if there's any prey left at all."

She glanced at me irritably then shrugged and continued, "Never mind about that. You shouldn't be worried about joining because Firestar used to be a kittypet and he doesn't think it matters where you come from. This is so fun! My first solo hunting mission and I bring back an intruder! No offense, but anyway…. Oh, we're here"

_Great Starclan she loves to talk,_ I thought as soon as I could hear myself think,_ She's spilling all of the Clan's secrets before I even get to camp._

The ground began to slope down and I looked around, not seeing anything. Then I saw a tunnel through what had seemed to be an impassable wall of gorse. A wave of unfamiliar scents washed over me as we neared the wall: Old, young, toms, she-cats, sick, healthy, some that had just eaten… I shook my head clearing the scents a little and followed Silverpaw as she led me through the gorse by way of a tunnel, avoiding patches of prickly thorns. After a second we emerged into a sunny clearing. Cats were padding here and there around what I now realized were dens. Some cats, which were -- I guessed -- apprentices, were scuffling next to a stump. They sat up noses twitching at the scent of Windclan as we hurried across the clearing. We reached a large boulder and slipped through a hanging curtain of lichen, into a den.

"Firestar!" called Silverpaw eagerly, dipping her head, and a noble-looking ginger tom looked up.

"Silverpaw! You're back early. Did you talk to…" He trailed off, looking at me with a confused look, "Who is this? A Windclan apprentice? Why did you bring her here, right to our camp?"

I repeated her respectful gesture as Silverpaw shuffled her paws anxiously, "She, um, said that she wanted to join Thunderclan. She's from Windclan."

"Windclan?" Firestar sounded suddenly apprehensive. Then he murmured so quietly that I could barely hear him, "Wind and thunder…"_What's that mean?_ I wondered as he looked up again, "What is your name?"

"Her name's Marshkit." Silverpaw told him.

"_Marsh_kit?" Firestar sounded worried again, "Are you sure?"

"I'm six moons today," I answered quickly, "So I should be _paw_." _Does he think that I don't know my name?_ I glanced at Silverpaw nervously, and then continued, "I'm sorry if I'm causing trouble, but I really do want to stay here. I feel like this lifestyle would suit me better than a life in Windclan."

Firestar nodded, still looking troubled, then flicked his tail at us, "I need to discus this. Silverpaw, fetch Graystripe, Frostfur, Sandstorm, Sootfur, and Mousefur. Tell them to come here. Take her with you and for Starclan's sake try to stay out of trouble." Silverpaw nodded, "Very well. Go and fetch them."

"Come on!" Silverpaw squeaked to me, then, as we left the den she added in an undertone, "I'll show you around."

"What's with him?" I asked in a murmur, trying not to be rude about the leader, "I mean, he was giving me some pretty strange looks."

"Well, having a Windclan kit barge into camp is a pretty big deal, in case you haven't noticed," Silverpaw joked, then her face turned to a mask of uncharacteristic seriousness, "Thought he was acting a bit strange. I can't tell because sometimes he does that around me too. Sometimes he stares at me during clan meetings."

A giggle escaped before I could stop it, "Maybe he loves you." **(AN: THIS IS NOT MY REAL PERSONALITY PEOPLE!!! …Sorry…)**

Silverpaw snorted, obviously holding back a laugh of her own, "Sandstorm's going to be soooo mad."

We laughed for a couple moments, then regained our composure and put our faces straight.

We walked across the clearing, to a large bush. "This is the warriors den." She informed me, popping her head inside, "Sootfur? I'm back. Firestar wants you, Sandstorm, Graystripe, and Mousefur to come to his den."

A gray tom with amber eyes heaved himself to his feet, "Sandstorm's at the sandy hollow with Sorrelpaw. I'll fetch her. Oh and…" He paused, then spat out his last words in an angry manner, "What in all of Starclan is a kit covered in Windclan scent doing in our camp?!?!"

"Err… Firestar will tell you." Silverpaw darted away before Sootfur could ask more questions. _I didn't except this kind of welcome. I shouldn't_ _talk to any other cats until this gets resolved,_ I mused.

Three other cats also sat up from where they had been sharing fresh-kill by a nettle patch. Next, Silverpaw led me to a fallen tree that, at some time, had been scorched by a fire. Now it was so covered in growth that I could hardly see the black marks.

Four cats were lying under it. "Come to hear a story, Silverpaw?" asked an old tortoiseshell she-cat, "Or are you going to change the bedding? … Finally?" She added grumpily.

"Erm… about that… I can't do it right now, Dappletail… I … I … I'll do it later." She finished meekly.

Silverpaw quailed under the she-cat's stern gaze as Dappltail meowed, "So you've come here to make an excuse for not doing your duties?"

A pale tabby lifted his head and sniffed the air. His eyes were glazed with milky white, and I realized that he was blind, "Nonsense, Dappletail. She's anxious about something. I can smell it. Who's that with you? She smells of Windclan."

I dipped my head respectfully to them, realizing that this was the elders den, and explained, "I've come to join the clan."

"Frostfur, Firestar wants to see you about that, can you go to his den now?" Silverpaw cut in.

"Of course," A snowy white she-cat with blue eyes got up from where she had been grooming.

"Now," Silverpaw told me, "I can show you around." We exited the den and she flicked her tail at a thick bramble bush, "That's the nursery. It's the safest place here. Goldenflower and Ferncloud are nursing right now." Next she angled her whiskers at a tunnel of ferns, "That leads to a rock overhang where our medicine cat works and stores herbs. You already know about the warriors' den, Firestar's den, and the elder's den. Firestar's den is under the highrock, which is where he makes announcements. The fresh-kill pile is in the middle of the clearing. We have a lot of warriors right now. Graystripe is our deputy but he sleeps with the other warriors. Our medicine cat, right now, is Cinderpelt and her apprentice is Leafpaw."

I nodded, struggling to memorize the constant flow of new information, "And the other apprentices? Where do they sleep?"

"I'll show you," mewed Silverpaw. We walked over to a clump of ferns that were growing thickly, next to a stump, "Apprentices eat by the stump and sleep under those ferns. Sometimes, if we're lucky, we'll be invited to eat among he warriors. We have a lot of apprentices right now, Sorrelpaw, Willowpaw, Squirrelpaw, Spiderpaw, Shrewpaw, Blackpaw, Whitepaw, Rockpaw, and me, oh and hopefully you, too. The gorse tunnel is the only way into camp, so that means that the entrance is really well guarded, and so are our borders which run along…Oh here comes Mousefur"

A dusky brown she-cat, hurried over from Firstar's den. "Firestar wants to see you. He's waiting for you in his den." She spoke to me, and then flicked her tail at Silverpaw, "He told me also to tell you to go work for the elders the rest of today as punishment for letting a cat from another clan into the camp." Silverpaw curled her lip and the old warrior snapped, "Move! And if I catch you listening to stories again instead of cracking fleas, like you're supposed to…" She let the threat hang in the air as Silverpaw scampered like a startled squirrel off, then looked at me again, "Do you know where his den is?"

I nodded and hurried over to the den. As I entered Firestar, surrounded by other cats, looked up. He glanced at me with a strange look in his eyes, then he meowed, "Ah, come in. Now, we have decided to test you. You will show me your capabilities tomorrow, at dawn. Understand?" I nodded, "Good, I will see you tomorrow at dawn."

I began to leave the den, but he called after me, his amusement burning my fur, "Oh, and tell Silverpaw that she needs to go and get the fresh-kill that she left behind in her hurry to get you to camp. Then you can help her take care of the elders, so that you can familiarize yourself with them in case we do decide to let you join. Then you may to go get some rest in the nursery. I assume that Silverpaw has shown you where these places are?"

I sighed as I nodded weakly. _This is going to be a lot harder than I'd expected,_ I pondered, _I hope tomorrow works out better._

**Silver wanted me to add "as I drifted off into a blissful sleep" to which I added "In front of the astonished clan leader who promptly ripped my whiskers off, chucked me out of the camp, and had half of his warriors hunt me down and kill me for being disrespectfull."**

**Luckily, I refused to put that in, so I don't have to die and write a new story!**

**I know it was long but I hoe you enjoyed it. Please review!**


	4. Chapter 3

**AN: Next chapie is up! Sorry for the delay. I've been insanely busy. Hope it was worth the wait!**

**Chapter three**

I woke early wondering why I was surrounded by the scent of Thunderclan. Almost instantly, I remembered the reason that I was here. I slipped out of the nursery, quietly. _It's so stupid that I had to sleep in the nursery another day._ I thought, but quickly forgot about that, seeing Firestar padding towards me. He flicked his tail at me and led me out of the camp, to a sandy hollow in the forest.

"Attack me," he ordered. I looked at him, sizing him up. He was too large to fight directly and probably too quick to pounce on. Playing it safe, I slithered up to him, my belly fur brushing the ground, imitating a move that I had seen Windclan apprentices practicing. He crouched, muscles tense and hissed at me as I advanced on him. I swiped at his ears then leaped out of the way of his pounce.

Cautiously, I glided forwards again. Ducking my head, I leaped at him forepaws outstretched, but pulled back again, as he reared up. Seeing my chance I scooted under his paws and gave a mighty heave upward, throwing him off balance. As he regained his balance I slipped past him, tripping him again. He spun around, grabbing me and we flipped over in a knot of whirling fur. Taking advantage of a momentary pause, I twisted free and leaped onto his back, hanging on desperately. He flipped onto his back driving the air out of me so that I loosened my grip.

In a moment he had me on the ground and under his paws. However hard I struggled and flailed my paws, I couldn't break the grip of his claws. I twisted and shoved up hard with my forepaws, staggering him for a moment, and hit him as hard as I could on the side of his muzzle.

He grabbed my scruff, and I braced myself to fight again. My vision drifted into red and my blood felt like it was boiling. I felt my claws slide out and I bared my teeth. Suddenly he let go and stepped back, letting me get up. Gasping and still reeling for the sudden bloodlust, I turned to face him, and he dipped his head.

"Well fought," he meowed, "welcome to Thunderclan. Come with me."

_What?_ I thought,_ that's it?_ Then a realization struck me, _maybe he's going easy on me._

Back at the camp Firestar called a clan meeting. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highrock for a clan meeting!" He yowled.

Silverpaw dashed over from the apprentices' den, "How did you do? She whispered eagerly, but just as I was about to reply Firestar silenced the cats with a wave of his tail and began to speak.

"Marshkit, as you all have heard by now, wants to join Thunderclan, and I have decided to let her. She has proved herself worthy in a trial today," He glanced at me, a strange look in his eyes that I could not identify. Then it was gone and he was speaking again, "Marshkit come up to the Highrock."

I scurried forwards and skidded to a halt in front of the rock. He looked down at me and my fur tingled in excitement as he spoke the words of an age-old ritual, "Marshkit, from this day onward, until you have earned your warrior name you, you will be known as Marshpaw,"

"Rainwhisker," he continued. A young, dark gray tom padded forwards, fur along his spine fluffing up in excitement, "You are ready for your first apprentice. You have had a fine mentor and I trust you to pass on all you know to this new apprentice."

"I won't let you down," murmured Rainwhisker. He lowered his head and I reached up to touch noses with him, accepting him as my mentor.

I could see the cats around the rock nodding in approval of the choice, "Marshpaw!" called a cat, a small silvery-gray she cat, with bright green eyes, and other cats joined in, calling my name, "Marshpaw, Marshpaw!"

My fur tingled again, as Silverpaw called out, "Marshpaw!" She bounced over, "Congratulations! Come on I'll introduce you to the other apprentices!"

Other apprentices crowded over, "So he actually let you join? I'm not surprised actually." joked a long-legged black tom, "and by the way my name's Spiderpaw."

"Well, of course she got in. How could he turn her down when she had already seen the camp and where it was?" A black tom with black-and-white, dappled paws and powerful shoulders meowed seriously, then added in a lighter tone, "And I'm Blackpaw, nice to meet you. My mentor is Graystripe."

I dipped my head politely, sizing him up with a glance, "Nice to meet you, too." He seemed a bit out of shape, but who was I to judge him? After all this _was_ only my first day as an apprentice.

Each of the apprentices stepped up to introduce themselves, "I'm Sorrelpaw." Announced a pretty, tortiseshell-and-white she-cat. "I'm almost a warrior."

"She's fresh out of Ciderpelt's den. She's been there for three moons scince she got hit by a monster. That's why Rainwhisker's a warrior. He and Sootfur are her brothers. I'm Squirrelpaw," added a bouncy she-cat with a bushy tail.

"Are you related to Firestar?" I asked, struck by the likeness of her dark ginger fur and green eyes.

She nodded, "I'm his daughter."

Next a small, dark brown tom spoke, "My name is Shrewpaw, Blackpaw's brother."

"I'm Willowpaw," the she-cat that had called my name first told me, "You'll have to excuse me. I was listening to a story in the elders' den and it was quite captivating." As she hurried back across the clearing her green eyes glittered at Blackpaw and she smiled. He awkwardly smiled back and twitched his whiskers uncomfortably, eyes following her to the elders' den where she slipped inside gracefully and disappeared.

Silverpaw leaned close to me with a smirk, "Blackpaw likes Willowpaw. Willowpaw is friends with him but no more and it's driving him crazy." I nodded but was immediately distracted by the other apprentices.

"I'm Whitepaw," declared a white she-cat with green eyes. She flicked her tail at a delicate, light brown tabby that was carrying a stack of herbs through the gorse tunnel, "And that's Leafpaw."

Silverpaw nodded to a tom-cat that was dropping a shrew on the fresh-kill pile. His fur was tawny with brown spots and both of his front paws were a deep reddish-brown, "That's Rockpaw, my brother. His mentor is Cloudtail"

At that moment I saw the leader of Thunderclan staring at me intently again. He shook his head, looking confused and annoyed, and looked away again.

My voice popped up again. If a voice in my head could even have feeling, it would have been disgusted and annoyed. _He doesn't believe you'll be a good warrior. He thinks you're weak. But you aren't. Show him what you're made of. Become the greatest warrior Thunderclan has ever seen!_

AN: Bwahahahaha… know it's shorter than the others. And once more It's filler writing. Sorry bout that.

**Remember: Blessed are the reviewers for they shall inherit the fandom.**


	5. Chapter 4

**Yes, I'm still alive. Sorry for the lack of posting the last couple weeks, but I've been extremely busy. Believe me. But after all of the stuff I've been doing, I finally got a break to write the next chapter. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 4**

I shook the voice out of my head, _What's wrong with me?! It's been happening more and more often lately!_

Before I could reach any ideas, Rainwhisker padded up behind me, "I'd leave you to get acquainted with the others, but then you would miss a tour of our territory." He mewed, "but if you'd rather sit here and talk, it's alright with me."

I saw his whiskers twitch in amusement as I leapt to my paws, "What? No way am I missing a training session! Where are we going first?"

"First we'll head to the top of the gorge. Then we'll head past the sandy hollow down to sunningrocks. Then we'll go up the river to…I'll show you as we go, I suppose." He sounded nervous and exited, just like I felt. Except he kept it controlled better. He was a warrior after all.

As we left the camp through the gorse tunnel, I glanced at him, remembering what Squirelpaw had said about him being Sorrelpaw's sister. That would mean that he had only been made into a warrior about a moon or two ago. I was surprised at that. He must be a very good warrior to be entrusted with an apprentice so early. I barely held in the flood of questions. _There's a time and place, _I repeated on of my mother's favorite sayings in my head, _A time and place for everything. Now's not the time._

We walked for a little while in silence, before he started to talk. "Over there," he began to speak, angling his whiskers towards the hollow where I had sparred with Firestar that morning, "is the sandy hollow, and on our other side is the stream that carved it out. That stream also carved out our camp, many, many, seasons ago. It has changed course several times." I twitched my ears and nodded. I could hear a faint noise of running water.

After another period of time Rainwhisker and I stopped at the edge of the trees. "Here," he meowed, "is the river that borders Riverclan. Riverclan owns the hunting rights to the river but we own Sunningrocks because it's on this shore." He led me upstream a little ways and there in front of us was a patch of large, smooth boulders. I leapt up, landing on top of one of the top ones.

"Mrow! It's nice!" I purred.

"It soaks up sunlight on warm days," Rainwhisker meowed, sounding a little bit nervous, as though he'd rehearsed the lines and thought he would mess up, "A long time ago the river was wider and these rocks were only islands, so Riverclan claimed them. When the river got shallower the Sunningrocks were on our side. Many great battles were fought over the Sunningrocks and still are, but they still belong to Thunderclan. Also, It's a great place to hunt when it's cool out."

"I'm hungry, can you teach me how to hunt, since we aren't on a hunting patrol?" I begged, "Teach me, please!"

"I'll catch something for us, but you'll have to wait to learn how," Rainwhisker paused for several moments, ears swiveling, mouth slightly open, and then he crouched and flicked his ears at a crack in the bottom of the pile of rocks. I pricked my ears, hearing the scuffle of tiny claws. Slowly, painstakingly, he crept forwards, then leapt. He dipped his paw into the hole and wrenched out a plump water vole. Before the vole had time to squeal he had sunk his teeth into it and it hang hung limply from his jaws. He dropped it at my paws, "Here."

My stomach growled, the small mouse that I'd eaten the day before seemed so long ago. I sank my teeth into the warm flesh eagerly. "Mmmmm… delicious." I mumbled, licking the last traces from my whiskers. It was so much juicier and more sustaining than the stringy, thin rabbits that I was used to. Without a doubt it was the freshest, juiciest, most delicious piece of fresh-kill that I'd ever eaten. I licked a paw and dragged it over my face as Rainwhisker finished swallowing the last morsels of vole.

"Come on. We have a long way to go," he meowed, sitting up. He sounded more enthusiastic now, like he was starting to get used to the idea of an apprentice.

I leapt to my paws immediately, "Where are we going now?"

"The Owltree!"

Rainwhisker leapt up and bounded off into the trees. I charged after him and we raced side-by-side, through tall, leafy trees. As we pounded along I felt exhilaration ripple through my pelt. I poured on the speed, pumping my legs with all of my natural Windclan talent, until the trees almost seemed to blur around me. We raced through clearings and passed logs that Rainwhisker cleared in one leap, while I scrambled over them, unused to the logs and trees that had never appeared in Windclan territory.

After a while we came to the stream that I'd followed to where I'd met Silverpaw. "Hey," I mewed, eagerly, "I know this place! I was here when I was coming down from the moor!"

"Right! I can smell your scent from yesterday. What can you scent?" Rainwhisker challenged.

I opened my mouth slightly, concentrating, "I can smell … mouse, pigeon … not too long ago. The Riverclan border is that way," I flicked my tail to our left, "And something else, I don't know what…It's yucky."

Rainwhisker scented the air, and surprise played across his face, "You're right! That's the scent of a badger. By the scent, it passed about two or three days ago. We'll report it to Firestar when we get back."

"Okaaay." Badgers? I'd never seen a badger, and I almost wanted to follow the trail, to see. I knew that was stupid, but the adrenaline from my run was still whooshing through me, making me feel reckless.

We crossed the stream on set of stones and continued a little further. Then Rainwhisker stopped at the base of the huge tree I'd passed on my way to camp. "This is the Owltree. One of our ancient leaders, Owlstar, found that a great, tawny owl lived in that hole in the trunk, way up there. On moonlit nights he would follow the owl's shadow, and it always led him to a good hunting spot. The owl is still there and it has helped teach us the way of night-hunting."

"But, how do you know that it lives there? Couldn't it be somewhere else?"

"Look under the leaves at the base of the tree," was his answer.

_What a strange reply,_ I thought, but jerked my head slightly in the universal "whatever" gesture and shoved my nose into the damp leaves that covered the forest floor. After a couple of moments, a disgusting scent filled my nostrils and I jerked my head back, spiting out a pellet. "What was that?!"

"It's an owl pellet; the owl eats its prey whole, but it has to roll the bones and fur into a pod and spit them back out."

"Oh, okay." What I was actually thinking was _And you made me stick my _nose _in an owl's dirtplace?!_ But I held my tounge. "Where are we going next?"

"The Thunderpath," he informed me, "and after that we'll go back," He glanced at me, probably noticing my paws dragging on the ground, "It's been a long day for you, hasn't it?"

I stifled a yawn, "Yep." Event though the sun was still up, I wasn't used to running around for the whole day.

We walked together for what seemed to be a long time. Finally the air around us began to smell different. It was worse than owl pellets; worse than crowfood, a horrible scent that choked me, clogged my nostrils, and made my eyes sting. I gagged on the foul air. Then I realized that there was also a sound, a constant rumble that sounded just like thunder. I pressed on beside Rainwhisker, staying close to him, and before long we were at the edge of a long, gritty, black path.

"Yuck! Disgusting," I snorted again.

Suddenly, the air was full of the thundering noise. "Stay back!" yowled Rainwhisker.

I obeyed him immediately and a huge thing charged along on the path. Snorting and throwing up clouds of reeking dust and grit with its vast black paws. It ignored us and continued racing down the vast black path, gone almost the moment it had arrived. I had barely enough time to notice bright, glaring eyes, a garish, shiny, vividly colored, furless pelt, and whiff its stink before it was gone and its roaring was fading into the distance.

Rainwhisker spotted the bewildered expression on my face and quickly explained, "That was a monster. Twolegs ride in its belly and guide it. The Thunderpath is also the border between Thunderclan and Shadowclan territory." He glanced at me then added gently, "Do you want to head back now? You look asleep on your paws." I merely nodded and followed him wearily away from the Thunderpath, towards camp.

The trip back to camp was long, because we had to cross almost all of Thunderclan territory to get back. Quite a while later, I sat munching on a blackbird next to the apprentice's den. Silverpaw bounded over from the entrance to the camp and mewed, "What did you do today? I practiced my fighting moves in the sandy hollow, with Squirrelpaw."

"I went over half the territory. I'm exhausted. Where do I sleep?"

Silverpaw led me into the den; "There's a spot next to me that isn't being used." She prodded a clump of bedding, "Right here."

I carefully fashioned a nest in the soft moss while Silverpaw settled down beside me, "Maybe-" I yawned widely, "maybe we can train together tomorrow."

"Yeah," Silverpaw's voice became muffled as she curled up tightly, "Why not?"

_This is how things should be. I can't wait to find out what we're doing tomorrow. I wonder if Thunderclan fighting is the same as…_ The thought was never finished as I drifted off to sleep.

**Hurray for filler writing! Ok, review and you get a cookie and a guess on what happens next!**


	6. Chapter 5

**WAAH! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I've just been so busy I haven't had any time to write and then my computer died and then my internet died and then I was busy again! Sorry, sorry! Well, anyway I've managed enough time to pull together a short chapter. It's not much, but maybe it'll appease those of you that've been waiting forever.**

**Chapter Five**

I was lost in the forest; stink of the Thunderpath filling my nose. Every time that I tried to flee a monster would bear down on me, eyes glittering coldly. Angry amber eyes, almost like my own, glinted from the bushes, but when I blinked they had disappeared. A voice sounded behind me, "Come." In a low snarl, but when I spun around, I only barely saw a shape among the brambles and mist. It shimmered once and disappeared into the trees. I twisted around trying to chase it, but a branch jabbed me in the ribs.

"Marshpaw! …Marshpaw wake up!" I felt a prod in my side again and opened my eyes to find Silverpaw's face inches from my own, her paw poised to poke me again.

"Wh-what? Silverpaw! I'm awake; stop poking me." Blearily I glanced around, "Wa' were you pushing me for?"

"You were squeaking in your sleep. Is something wrong?"

I shook my head, "Bad dream." But I shuddered remembering the voice that seemed to haunt my dreams as well as my woken mind.

"Oh, well it's almost time to go. I already asked Sootfur and he said that if Rainwhisker says yes, we could practice fighting moves in the sandy hollow together. Ok?" I blinked blurrily then nodded, "Good, I'll get you something to eat."

I was finishing the shrew that Silverpaw had brought me when Rainwhisker padded over, with Sootfur. "I've just been talking to Sootfur and I think that it's a good idea for you to go and practice with Silverpaw," he mewed. Then he turned to Sootfur, "Are you sure you can handle both of them? I hear that Silverpaw can be quite a pawful."

"Not with me; she wouldn't dare!" Sootfur gave Silverpaw a wink, "Don't worry. We'll be fine. You go join a patrol." They rubbed cheeks and for a moment I was again strongly reminded that they were brothers. A wave of homesickness washed over me, but I straightened myself, remembering my ceremony.

_This IS my home now, _I thought, _I'm glad to be here._

Sootfur then gathered Silverpaw and I with a sweep of his tail and led us to the sandy hollow. When we were there he began showing us a series of basic defensive moves. With Silverpaw's help I slowly mastered them, until Sootfur told me that I was ready to begin a simple one-on-one fighting match.

Silverpaw faced me and I padded in a circle around her, waiting for an opening or a chance to strike. She acted first, leaping forwards and bowling me over. I flipped over with her so that she was slammed into the ground. Leaping up I got my teeth into her scruff and shoved her head down into the sand. With a mighty leap, she flung me off. Landing at the edge of the clearing, I twisted to land lightly, on my paws. We charged for each other again and I reared up to bring the weight of both forepaws down onto her. Suddenly, she pulled her head and tail in and rolled under my outstretched paws and tripping me up. She ended up behind me, leaving me slapping my paws down on empty ground and burying my face in the soft sand.

_She's good_! I thought in surprise, spitting out a mouthful of grit.

Now I was going full out. I leapt again, landing squarely on her shoulders and we flipped across the clearing. I felt her paws pummeling my belly but gripped her tightly, refusing to let go. My paws clasped onto her and I felt her trying to squirm free. I ducked a swipe that she had aimed at my face. In the momentary pause she wrenched free and aimed another blow. I dodged again and aimed a couple blows of my own. Soon, we were both slashing the air with our forepaws and the battle was steadily intensifying.

Finally, Sootfur knocked us both back and meowed, "Alright, I can see that you're almost even in fighting skills. Silverpaw, you need to be more offensive. I know you don't want to hurt Marshpaw but really! Don't let yourself be beaten by your friend. You need to learn to control your body."

Silverpaw scowled and muttered in my ear, "What a stupid old furball."

"Did you say something?" Sootfur had a half amused, half stern look in his eyes.

"Erk. Uh, no. I didn't say anything," She mewled, like a kit, embarrassed that he'd heard her.

"Good. I thought so. Anyway, You were mostly dodging in the beginning. Marshpaw, good leaps, but you need to work on timing. You completely missed Silverpaw when she rolled away. You have to learn to anticipate your opponent's next moves. Now I'm going to let you two have a break. Then I want to show you about slashing feints."

Gasping, Silverpaw flopped down on the ground beside me, "Good moves!" She panted, "You almost had me. I forgot that Sootfur was even there until he pulled us apart."

"Thanks, you're not bad yourself. You're fast!" I replied, swiping my tongue over my ruffled fur, to smooth it.

Soon, Sootfur was teaching us how to partner fight, how to protect each other while attacking from either side of an opponent or keeping each other's backs safe. After a while, we had figured out how to leap together, slash, or split up on the signal of a tail twitch or a nod. As soon as we managed to master one skill, Sootfur threw another one at us.

He stopped us to do another skirmish, this time against him. We leapt together, but he dodged nimbly to the side. I slashed a paw at him and he leapt back, knocking into Silverpaw, who grabbed him, trying to flip him over. He shook her off and kicked me back as I tried to batter him with my front paws. _He's splitting us up so that we can't do partner fighting!_ I realized as he slammed into Silverpaw. That realization made me understand that he knew that neither of us was strong enough to fight him alone. As Silverpaw landed in a heap, with the wind knocked out of her, I decided that all I needed to do was hold him long enough for her to get back on her paws. I glanced at her and our eyes locked. I could see that she was thinking the same thing.

With that in mind, I dodged around Sootfur, just out of range, as he tried to land a blow. His paw lashed towards my feet and I reared up, but as a surprise move, he whipped it up at my face. Seeing a chance, I seized his paw in my teeth, in the split second that he tried to strike. For a moment a feeling of triumph leapt through me, but then shock and a fear that I would hurt him jumped into my mind.

I dropped his paw, and instead of biting him, I leapt at his flank, shoving him over. As he slashed, with a sheathed paw, I rolled away, tossing up a cloud of dust. By that time Silverpaw had leapt up again and reentered the fray. She aimed a leap onto Sootfur's back but jumped back off onto the sand next to me as Sootfur rolled in an attempt to dislodge her. We attacked as one just as he was getting back on his paws and he went down in a cloud of dust and whirl of fur.

He shoved us both away after a scuffle that lasted several seconds. I crouched, ready to leap again, my heart pounding and my lungs burning, but he waved at us with his tail signaling for us to stop.

Silverpaw's eyes were shining as we stepped back, and sat down gasping. "How was it?" she asked, eagerly.

"It was outstanding, for such new apprentices. Overall, you need to work on keeping together. It was too easy to split you up. Also, you need to put more power behind your attacks… and Marshpaw?"

"Yes?" my ears drooped as I realized what he was about to say.

Sootfur had a hint of confusion in his voice as he meowed, "You let go of my paw. Grabbing it was a great idea, but you let go. Why?"

I looked at the ground and my voice came out as a self-conscious squeak, "I … I didn't want to hurt you. I'm sorry."

"You're doing _well_ if you hurt me," Sootfur said in exasperation, "Anyway, I think that there's a move that you'd find useful if you were in a situation like mine. It has plenty of power…"

We continued to learn moves as the sun traced its path across the sky. Eventually, he stopped us as we were practicing back-kicks, and told us; "I think that you can go back to camp now. You've both learned a lot today. And Silverpaw, I've never seen you work so hard! You can both head back to camp and take care of the elders. All right?" We both nodded and he glanced at us strangely, just like Firestar had when I told him my name, and then flicked his tail for us to leave.

As we bounded off, I asked Silverpaw, "Why does everyone look at us funny?"

Silverpaw's eyes widened in frustration, "I don't know! Firestar always looks at me like… like I'm a newborn kit or something! He always acts protective and as if I can't defend myself."

"Well, you proved that you could, today! I ache all over! But… he looks at me like that too. But it's also like some sort of fear or respect. It's scary."

Her head snapped up, "Hey! Remember what he said when you were asking him to join the clan?"

"When he was muttering to himself? Yeah, he said something about a prophecy and then, 'wind and thunder.' I didn't get it at all."

"I know. Is something wrong with us?"

I shook my head, "I have no idea. Hey, maybe we should snoop around a little. You know, to find out what's going on?"

"Yeah, let's get back to camp maybe an opportunity will come up while we're looking after the elders."

**What do you think should happen? Was it good? Review please!**


	7. Chapter 6

**Okay…Finally got something more substantial than that endless filler writing for you guys. I'm trying to write quickly, but I have a lot of constant work.**

**And I've been neglecting to say this so I'll say it now: I don't own Warriors.**

**Chapter six**

"_Let's get back to camp maybe an opportunity will come up while we're looking after the elders."_

We both hurried back to camp as quickly as we could, trying and failing at not looking excited. Just before we got to camp, I stopped Silverpaw, took a deep breath and told her to think of mouse bile. We both entered the camp with identical gloomy expressions.

Once we had informed the elders that we had to help them, we went out to collect bedding. Tearing moss from a tree stump, we kept our ears pricked for any sign of Firestar or another cat that would be likely to be talking about us. There was no sign of any cat.

"It's not like the first moment we figure out something's up, they'll explain everything," Silverpaw grumbled and I conceded the point, but kept my ears open anyway.

We trudged back the elder's den, laden with moss and looked around camp for anything out of place. Nothing. As Silverpaw began spreading out bedding, I hurried to Cinderpelt's den to get mouse bile.

"Cinderpelt?" I called, and two cats turned, startled, towards me. I blinked, "Firestar?"

"Yes?" he inquired.

I shook my head, "N-nothing. Cinderpelt, can I have some mouse bile for the elders' ticks?"

She nodded her head and hurried into the shadows. For a moment there was an uncomfortable silence between Firestar and me **(A/N: and I?…me? I always forget how that works)**, then Cinderpelt hurried back out with damp moss hanging from the end of a twig. "Remember to wash your paws in a stream afterwards," She meowed.

"Thanks, Cinderpelt," I grimaced, taking the twig carefully in my mouth, "Silverpaw and I are cleaning up the elders' den together." I mewed around the stick, and backed out of the den. On a sudden inspiration I hid in the shadows outside the fern tunnel and listened to the conversation that had been stopped as soon as they noticed that I was there.

"See, Cinderpelt? That's exactly what I was talking about. Marshpaw's been here for two and a half days and they already do everything together. Could it be?" Firestar's voice wafted out.

Cinderpelt's reply was slow, "I don't know, and as I've said before Starclan has chosen to show nothing else to me. We can only wait."

I nearly dropped the stick, but just clamped it harder, my eyes going wide. There voices were drifting in and out of focus.

"But, surely ……. thunder would be Silverpaw …… So is it possible that Marsh of the …… Marshpaw since she's ……….?"

"I'm not sure. It could be. Well…… Will 'join' and…" Cinderpelt trailed off then began again, loud enough for me to hear every word, "As I said before we can only wonder and wait."

"But Cinderpelt-"

"I hope that they send us a sign as well, but we can only wait and hope"

"Hope catches no prey." Growled Firestar, "But if you're sure."

"Positive."

"Then you're right. However, we should pay attention to those two. I think that we should…"

I didn't hear the rest as I hurried back to the elders' den, the bile-soaked moss swinging from the twig.

"Hey," Silverpaw sounded cross, "What took you so long? I've had to start cracking the ticks myself!"

"Oh nothing. I had to wait for the mouse bile because _Firestar_ was talking to Cinderpelt. It wasn't a _big deal_." I hoped that shed noticed the stress I put on the words 'Firestar' and 'big deal'.

"Oh, okay. Help me finish up here then." I saw a glint in her amber eyes and she gave me the tiniest nod possible. We hurriedly finished getting rid of the ticks then grabbed the piles of old bedding and hauled them away to dump them outside of the gorse tunnel. Then Silverpaw turned to me and murmured into my ear, "What did they say?"

"It wasn't very clear. They stopped as soon as I came in."

"What did you hear?"

"It was … a prophecy I think. Let's head to the stream to wash our paws."

Silverpaw gaped at me, as we began to trot towards the stream, "About us!?"

"I don't know. They both mentioned a prophecy. Cinderpelt said that Starclan hadn't shown anything else besides 'that'. They only quoted tidbits but from what I could gather it said that thunder and marsh of the something would join and…something. I don't know. They weren't very clear."

"Anything else?" Silverpaw's voice quivered and her eyes were huge.

"Firstar said that we had only known each other for two and a half days but we were already doing everything together. And he…I don't know. I just don't know."

"Do you think that _we-_?"

"No Idea…Silverpaw, Does this mean we have to do something… incredible or powerful or amazing? I don't feel strong or anything. I feel more like I'd mess it up and do something stupid instead of powerful," I told her in a hushed voice.

"I know. I don't get it either," she replied, "We'll just have to wait and see…" she purred, "unless, of course, the prophecy means your incredible squeaking and squealing when you sleep"

My fur fluffed indignantly, "I do not! Maybe it means the noise you make when you're trying to stalk prey." I imitated her stumbling and stepping on every twig in her path. She looked like she was considering killing me, but the excitement overruled her irritation.

"Do not! …..But anyway," she became serious again, "That explains the funny looks we've been getting."

"Yeah…"

I reached the stream first and splashed into it. Silverpaw followed more slowly, flinching as the icy water splashed around her paws. We chatted for a while, trying to find what the prophecy could mean, and what the blank spots could be, but neither of us could figure out anything more.

As we headed back to the gorse tunnel, with questions spinning around both of our heads, I sighed and decided, _I guess everyone's waiting to see what's going to happen next._

I settled into my nest and, after along time of tossing and turning, I finally managed to fall asleep, my dreams filled with prophecies and starry cats.

**Okay, so now they're starting to piece it together. What will happen next?!**

**Silver: Next you get eaten by a badger and I take over the clan…**

**Me: Hey! This is my A/N OUT!**

**Silver: I'm going, I'm going…**

**Review anyone?**


	8. Chapter 7

**I'm back. I'm sure you noticed. Here's my next chapter.**

**Warriors: Don't own it. But I do own Silverpaw, Marshpaw, and all of my own made-up characters.**

**Chapter 7**

Carefully, I stalked through the undergrowth, letting my paws fall into the motion of a hunter's crouch. Ahead a blackbird was pecking among the leaves. With a rush and a spring, I knocked it to the ground with a carefully positioned leap. It leapt up, wings churning the air, but it was too late. Before it had time to let out an alarm call, I'd knocked it down and broken its spine with my teeth.

I carried the warm body back to the store of freshkill that I'd made. I quickly dug up the earth next to the store of two thrushes, and buried the freshly caught blackbird under a mound of earth. It was almost sunhigh and I had been hunting since dawn. My first solo hunting mission! It was eight sunrises ago that I'd been made into an apprentice. In that small time I'd flourished and become a swift hunter.

_Why can't I be better?_ I wondered, thinking of my much poorer fighting skills, _I'm so afraid of actually __hurting__ someone!_

Suddenly, I remembered that tonight was the quarter moon. I would get to meet my brother and sisters, to see how they were doing. Anxiety flooded me and I wondered how I would manage to sneak out of camp, without being detected. What if I was caught?

Sighing, I continued to hunt. A few minutes later, I came upon a mouse, poking its nose out of its burrow. As I watched silently, it scrambled out and sat, with its back to me, on a leaf. I glided forwards, paws barely touching the ground, and then froze as it looked around. It's head swung about and it looked at the clump of grass that I was sneaking through. Suddenly, the wind shifted and the mouse scented me. It turned to flee, but I gave a massive heave with my hind legs, soaring towards it. I missed it by a whisker and it turned tail and scampered back towards a shallow hole in the ground. Hissing angrily at myself, I dashed after the mouse. Its tail disappeared into the tiny hole just as I reached it. _It can't go that far back._ I thought, _if I twist my paw just right and reach in at the right angle…Yes!_

My paw slipped into the hole and I caught the terrified creature and scooped it out of the hole, almost like a Riverclan cat scooping a fish out of the river. I tossed the mouse into the air and it crashed into the ground, legs splayed out. It squeaked and tried to run, but I brought my paw down, hard, onto its back and, with a satisfied hiss, felt its back break under the weight.

When the sun had reached its peak, I gathered up my freshkill and headed back to the camp. Arriving, I was pleased to see an admiring look on Silverpaw's face as she eyed my catches. I nodded to her, eyes shining, dropped the freshkill on the almost-empty pile, and hurried over to the warriors' den. I spotted Rainwhisker grooming in a patch of sun, by the warriors' den.

"Rainwhisker, I'm back!"

Rianwhisker's head popped up as he saw me walking towards him, "Marshpaw! What did you catch?"

"A mouse, two thrushes, and a blackbird," I reeled off.

He nodded, "Good. You're turning into a fine, young hunter, just like Silverpaw. You seem to have a special talent for birds. I want you to take some freshkill to the elders, and then you can have something for yourself. I'm also going to be in the dawn patrol tomorrow and I'd like you to come."

I nodded, feeling my fur grow hot at his praise, then trotted off. After, giving some prey to the elders, I settled down by the stump with a rabbit. After a moment, Silverpaw joined me with one of my thrushes and began eating eagerly. "Yum… you catch good plump birds," she mewed.

"Hi," I nodded, "you too, only you're better at voles and squirrels, aren't you?"

She nodded, "I'll save a vole next time to trade you for a starling the next time we go hunting"

I nodded and continued eating my rabbit thinking of the juicy vole Rainwhisker had caught on my first day as an apprentice.

"Anyway, Have you heard anymore hints to what the complete," her voice dropped, "prophecy is?"

I shook my head. We had been keeping a close eye on Cinderpelt and Firestar ever since I'd heard them discussing the prophecy, "Nothing else, yet. The names though… Is there any other meaning to them, besides us? I've been hanging out around Leafpaw and Cinderpelt. Learning the herbs and just trying to see if something slips." I sighed in disgust, "Nothing on your side either?"

"Nothing. I've been eavesdropping on the elders every chance I get, but I'm not sure they know about it." She sighed, then perked up again as she added, "I'm on dawn patrol with you tomorrow so we can do something together again! Of course we do that every other day." She laughed, and then told me, "Sorrelpaw's going to be a warrior soon."

"I know. What do you think that her warrior name will be?" I asked, slightly relieved that the topic had turned away from the troubling prophecy. Silverpaw thought that Sorrelpaw's name would be Sorrelfur or maybe Sorrelstep. I was convinced that it would be Sorreltail. We had decided that the one who got it right would get to pick the prey first on the day of the ceremony.

After chatting for a while I remembered that I was meeting my kin tonight. I had to get her to sleep so that I could get away unnoticed so I carefully faked a yawn and suggested, "I'm tired. Let's go to sleep." Silverpaw agreed and we trotted into the den. Curling up between her and Squirrelpaw who had been dozing, I waited for the moon to rise.

The moon was near its peak, when I slipped out of the den and dashed out of the gorse tunnel. I streaked along in the moonlight with my tail streaming out behind me. Weaving between ferns and trees, I skidded to a halt at Fourtrees just as Oakpaw arrived in the clearing. Purring, I rubbed my cheek against his flank. Hazelpaw and Dapplepaw arrived soon and we all stood together, under the shadows of the ancient trees.

"Alright," meowed Oakpaw, in an authoritative tone, "let this meeting come to order. We meet under the fourtrees at the quarter moon to discus our clans and training," He went back to his usual lighter tone, "So guys, what's been going on?"

"Wait," said Hazelpaw with her shining eyes telling us that she was quite as eager as the rest of us, despite her shy tone, "You three need to say how you managed to join your clans. _Then_ we can talk about our training, ok?"

"Right," Dapplepaw mewed, her tail flicking in anticipation, "me first," we all settled into more comfortable positions and she began, "After we split up here eight or nine surises ago, I went across the river and ended up on Riverclan territory. I found a patrol and got into the river before they noticed me; I used that to wash away my scent. Then I swam up the river so that they could see me. When I got out they were impressed and I asked to join and they said no problem. They've been teaching me to swim better and catch fish ever since. My mentor is Mosspelt. She's a tortoiseshell she-cat. I like to think that we look alike. I also met a new best friend, Reedpaw, in the patrol."

"Okay," purred Oakpaw, "My story is a little different. I knew that the cats in Shadowclan would never let me join if I just went up to one of them and asked them, so I wandered until I found a patrol. I kept out of sight and went downwind of them. They smelled me and tried to chase me out, but I fought them. When I managed to get a breath of air I shouted at them to stop. Then I told them that I'd come to join them. They tested me for three days and then Blackstar finally let me in. My mentor is Russetfur, also the Deputy. Oh, and my new best friend is Smokepaw."

I sighed, wishing that my story was nearly as exciting as theirs were, "You next Hazelpaw."

"Well," she began hesitantly, "there isn't much to tell. I watched you leave until you were out of sight. Then I went and got my apprentice name. I found out that Tallstar was actually the one that suggested that we move to other clans. He was the first one to notice, when we were kits, some peculiar behavior. My mentor is Whitetail."

"Ooooh, she's pretty!" piped Dapplepaw, enviously, then she turned to me, "Well, what about you?"

I sat up and began to describe how I'd followed the stream and run into Silverpaw. I told them about our battle, and explained how she'd brought me to camp and about the trial, then my ceremony and the things that I'd been taught. I skipped over the prophecy. _They don't need to know._ I told myself.

Soon, we were teaching each other special skills of other clans. I showed them how to stalk and fight in the undergrowth. Oakpaw taught us how to give our fighting moves more power. Hazelpaw showed us a few extra ideas to use in hunting that we didn't already know. Dapplepaw was just finishing showing us how to scoop fish out of a fast current, when I remembered dawn patrol.

"I've got to see you later," I mewed hurriedly, "I'm on dawn patrol. Bye."

As I sped off I heard Oakpaw call after me, "Roll in damp ferns, before you get back. It'll wash off our scent."

I sprinted through the trees and slipped back into my den undetected after finding a patch of dew-laden ferns in a patch of damp ground. I felt a twinge of guilt that I had been sneaking around the forest at night. _But,_ I argued with myself, _who would guess? _I was just dozing off, when Rainwhisker stuck his head into the den.

"Come on lazy-mice, time for the patrol," he told us.

**Meh, incredibly long chapter, but not much substance, sadly. So what will happen on patrol? Ideas? I have it mostly written but I'm still open to anything you guys think. Review please!**

**Silver: Or else!**

**Me: Silver, I'm trying to make friends here…**


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